Movies

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has signed on to produce the live-action adaptation of the iconic toy “Hot Wheels,” Mattel and Warner Bros. announced on Monday. While plot details are still in their original packaging, the release notes that the film will feature “the world’s hottest and sleekest cars, monster trucks and motorcycles,” fitting for the

In the late 1940s, when Barry Levinson was a young boy, his family hosted a guest — his grandmother’s brother. The man’s name was Simka, and he shared a room with Levinson for a two-week period before moving away. Levinson remembers the man thrashing in his sleep and mumbling in a foreign language for some

German actor Oliver Masucci and French star Fanny Ardant have joined the cast of Roman Polanski’s new movie “The Palace,” which will surely be a subject of controversy at the Cannes Film Festival where distribution rights are being sold. The ensemble drama, which had already cast Mickey Rourke, will be headlined by Masucci, the German actor

Days after the Najafi group’s buyout of STX Entertainment, the Eros STX Global Corporation is changing its name to Eros Media World PLC. The newly renamed company has also revealed a new management structure and some financial projections. Eros will retain a 15% non-voting stake in STX and the company said it has “fully repaid

Johnny Depp testified Monday that he wanted to keep making “Pirates of the Caribbean” films because he wanted to give a “proper goodbye” to Jack Sparrow and the other characters in the franchise. Depp took the stand for the fourth day in a courtroom in Fairfax, Va., where his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard

Howard Stern called out Johnny Depp for “overacting” while testifying against Amber Heard during the former couple’s defamation trial, which has been live-streaming on various platforms since April 11. Depp is suing Heard for defamation after she alluded to their alleged abusive relationship in an op-ed piece written for The Washington Post. Heard’s legal team

Buoyed by the Oscar nomination for Maite Alberdi’s “The Mole Agent” last year, which was also shortlisted in the International Feature category, Chilean documentaries are attracting ever more attention worldwide. One of its leading lights, Patricio Guzman, will have the world premiere of his latest opus, “Mi País Imaginario” as a Cannes  Festival special screening. For

London-based sales firm Rocket Science has hired Voltage executive Patricia Arias as its new director of sales. Arias — who will be relocating from Los Angeles to London in the run-up to Cannes — was previously VP of international sales and distribution for Voltage Pictures, and was also VP of Film Mode Entertainment, where her

Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s debut feature “Pamfir” which will world premiere at Directors’ Fortnight. The banner is handling international sales on the movie. Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk previously directed the short film “Weighlifter,” a European Film Award contender and winner of the Best Short Film Award in Angers. “Pamfir” takes place in Western Ukraine,

Voltage Pictures has appointed Darcy Donelan as VP, development and production, reporting into president and COO Jonathan Deckter and Voltage founder and CEO Nicolas Chartier. Harvard graduate Donelan, who started her career with Voltage, was most recently with CAA in the books department and previously with HBO, where she worked as a marketing manager focusing

The up-and-coming Canadian filmmaking trio behind the Sundance movies “Turbo Kid” and “Summer of 84,” are directing “We Are Zombies,” a comedy based on Jerry Frissen and Guy Davis’ cult comic book series “The Zombies That Ate the World.” Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell and François Simard started shooting the movie on March 29 across various

International finance, production and sales company Protagonist Pictures has appointed Alice Vail as creative executive, reporting into head of development Len Rowles and head of acquisitions Luane Gauer. Vail will be working across Protagonist’s film and television projects with a focus on supporting new talent. Vail previously served as the development editor at Number 9

Hulu has released the first trailer for the new queer rom-com “Fire Island,” starring Joel Kim Booster and “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang. A modern take on the classic Jane Austen novel “Pride and Prejudice,” “Fire Island” focuses on two gay best friends, Noah (Booster) and Howie (Yang), who take a trip to the

Prestige French distribution house Dulac Distribution has closed rights to France on “1976,” one of the most awaited of films to come out of Chile this year, which will world premiere next month at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.  The buzzed up title represents the first feature from young Chilean actor-turned-director Manuela Martelli, star of Andrés Wood’s

Vivendi, the parent company of French pay TV company Canal Plus Group and advertising banner Havas Group, saw its revenues increase by 13.4% to €2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) during the first quarter of 2022. The company’s financial results were mainly driven by the growth of Canal Plus Group, Havas Group, as well Vivendi Village, which

The Seattle International Film Festival closed its 48th edition on Sunday by announcing its top honors, presenting awards at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Seattle. “Klondike,” a film following a family that lives on the tumultuous border of Russia and Ukraine in 2014, was awarded the grand jury prize within the

In addition to Constantin Films’ Martin Moszkowicz receiving CinemaCon’s Career Achievement in Film, other executives will be feted at this year’s trade show. Getty Images Global Achievement in ExhibitionRenana Teperberg Chief Commercial Officer, Cineworld GroupTeperberg lives the lifestyle of her CinemaCon Global Achievement in Exhibition Award. As chief commercial officer at Cineworld Group, Teperberg lives

“The Northman,” a violent epic of Viking revenge, is not a good movie. It’s like “Gladiator” without the Colosseum and with a stubbornly uninteresting hulk avenger hero. (It also drags on 45 minutes longer than it should have.) A lot of critics have overpraised the movie because they feel invested in the career of Robert

In his more than three decades at Constantin Film, Martin Moszkowicz has overseen the production of hundreds of films, including such box office successes as “Downfall,” “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” the hugely popular “Fack Ju Go­ehte” films and the hit “Resident Evil” franchise. This year’s CinemaCon is honoring Constantin’s longtime CEO for his work and

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. In Robert Eggers’ new epic “The Northman,” out this weekend, Alexander Skarsgård seeks revenge on a man who has killed both his parents and usurped the throne from his royal father. It’s a noble

Universal’s kid-friendly caper “The Bad Guys” pulled off a heist for the ages, capturing the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office. The animated comedy has collected $24 million from 4,009 North American theaters in its debut, enough to take the crown from “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.” In its second weekend of

In a crowded weekend at the domestic box office that includes northmen and fantastic beasts and Nicolas Cage — oh my! — “The Bad Guys” has risen above the competition. The DreamWorks Animation film is projected to take the weekend’s top slot in its opening. Universal’s “The Bad Guys” is projected to open to $25

In frilly YA frivol “The King’s Daughter,” Louis XIV (an awkwardly bewigged Pierce Brosnan) orders a mermaid captured and brought back to Versailles, so that he might sacrifice the creature during a solar eclipse and attain eternal life, it takes just a few minutes for such an amazing feat to be accomplished. But haste is

There’s a classic sound to heist films, especially of the ’60s and ’70s – a little jazzy, a little stealthy, occasionally raucous and wild – and composer Daniel Pemberton cleverly channels it throughout “The Bad Guys,” the DreamWorks Animation action comedy that opens today. “The film in some ways is an homage to classic caper

The opening of “Scary Movie 2” memorably features Natasha Lyonne in a parody of “The Exorcist.” The comedian appears as a demon-possessed woman who gets a visit from two priests, played by James Wood and Andy Richter. Lyonne reminded fans in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly that Marlon Brando was originally cast in Wood’s

A consortium of investors led by Najafi Companies has closed its deal to purchase STX Entertainment, the beleaguered film and television company behind “Bad Moms” and “My Spy.” The sale ends STX’s unhappy union with Eros, the Indian media company that it merged with in 2020. The goal was to go public, which STXEros did,

In “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Nicolas Cage tackles one of his most out-there roles yet: a capital-A Actor named Nicolas Cage, who’s adored by fans all over the world for the intensity and eccentricity he brings to his work. Here’s a man who once pulled two of his teeth for a part (“Birdy”),

Los Angeles’ ubiquitous smog, freeways, beaches and palm trees — as well as its place in moviedom — were all influential elements as filmmaker Pierre Perifel and production designer Luc Desmarchelier huddled over where to set DreamWorks’ latest animation, “The Bad Guys,” in theaters April 22. Based on the children’s book series by Aaron Blabey

The Ukrainian Institute has issued an official letter to the Cannes Film Festival and French director Michel Hazanavicius asking them to rename his opening night movie “Z,” which the org claims is a pro-war symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In Russia, “Z” is considered a pro-war symbol that has also been used in pro-Russian

One of the best actors of his generation, Jack Nicholson built a prolific career of rich, dynamic, emotionally complex and often terrifying performances. To narrow down his “best” performances is a daunting task and likely will garner varying answers from people when asked, “what’s your favorite from Jack?” To celebrate the man who turns 85